Memex animation - Vannevar Bush's diagrams made real

Anyone who has taken Dorothea Salo's LIS 551 class has probably seen this video because she likes to show it in class. It is an animation showing a hypothetical vision of what Vannevar Bush's Memex machine would have looked like and how it would have worked. SheffieldLibraryGuy, the person who upload this video, described it as thus:

This is a recording of a Macromedia Director application that was built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bush's 1945 "As we may think" paper. The application was built by Dynamic Diagrams and was distributed at the ACM SIGIR conference in 1995.

It is quite useful to have an actual visual reference like this to accompany the readings for this week about the history of networks and information sharing.

TED Talk - Tim Berners-Lee: The next web

Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web 25 years ago is now planning to build the next web for open linked data. In this Ted Talk, Berners-Lee introduces the process of creating the World Wide Web in 1980s and he points out that with the highly similar motivation and situation of that time, the research of the next web today is going to be frustrated but revolutionary again. His explanation about the ideas and events about the World Wide Web involves the discussion about the development of Internet, which fits into the concept of some of the readings for this week. In addition, we may be able to imagine the future development of the next web based on his talk.

Berners-Lee, T. (2009, Feb). Tim Berners-Lee: The next web. [Video File]. Retrieved from 
http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_berners_lee_on_the_next_web.html 

The History of the Internet in a Nutshell

Many of the readings for this week dealt with the development of the Internet and the evolution of networking in general. While this is a fascinating topic, the breadth of that history can be overwhelming. Therefore, anyone looking for a concise, readable summary of the history of the Internet need look no further than an article written by Cameron Chapman for the web developer/designer website sixrevisions.com entitled "The History of the Internet in a Nutshell." It chronicles the forty years between 1969 and 2009 during which the entity now known as the Internet evolved. Beginning with the creation of ARPANET (which was mentioned in an earlier post on this site), Chapman lists the important dates, people, and events in the World Wide Web's history. The inclusion of multiple images and graphics makes the article visually appealing, while the abundance of links to outside information, often Wikipedia articles, allows readers to delve more deeply into topics they find interesting. There are many fascinating pieces of trivia. For example, spam messages were born in 1978 when Gary Thuerk sent unsolicited e-mails to 600 ARPANET users in California. Many people do not know how the Internet came into existence so this article provides a simple, enjoyable introduction to that history.

Visit: http://sixrevisions.com/resources/the-history-of-the-internet-in-a-nutshell/

Chapman, Cameron. "The History of the Internet in a Nutshell." Six Revisions 15 Nov. 2009. Web. 2 Feb. 2014.

NPR:40 Years Later, Looking Back At The Internet's Birth

NPR does a great series on the development of the internet called NPR: 40 Years, Looking Back At the Internet's Birth.  Since some of our articles discuss the birth of the internet, I thought this was appropriate. In this section they talk to Bob Taylor, one of the many, many, many founders of the internet. He and his co-workers helped build a way for computers to communicate to one another. I would highly recommend listening to the story. Its only 11 minutes and 26 seconds long.  Its much better than reading the transcript from the interview. The other series are just as informative and worth a listen if you want to know more.

Raz, G. (2009, November 1). 40 Years Later, Looking Back At The Internet's Birth. NPR. Retrieved February 3, 2014, from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114376728

Net Neutrality

     Lawrence Lessig writes in "What Things Regulate" that, "We should worry about a regime that makes invisible regulation easier; we should worry about a regime that makes it easier to regulate" (99). While Lessig is specifically condemning the U.S. government's role in regulating Internet code and the lack of liberty that it ostensibly creates, one cannot create a categorical imperative that declares all regulation to be bad. In any transaction, each party involved has a particular ends to accomplish, and governmental regulation aims to balance the needs of the government, its residents, and companies.

     Recently in the news there has been discussion of "net neutrality." Network neutrality is the belief that Internet Service Providers should not privilege some content and users over others (i.e., an ISP should not limit access to a site known for illegal downloading). In effect, the Internet should be an even playing field with equitable access.

     The Federal Communications Commission passed an Open Internet Order in December 2010 that upheld the tenets of net neutrality. However, Verizon filed suit claiming that the FCC breached its regulatory power. In January 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals found in favor of Verizon, and struck down the Open Internet Order.

     For many information professionals, equitable and open access to the Internet is a 21st-century commandment. Yet, there will be always be parties willing to subjucate that aim. For companies like Verizon, it is based in monetary gain. Information professionals must work to ensure that the individual's access to information is not impinged, via legislation, lobbying work, and advocacy.

     For information on the FCC and net neutrality, read "Verizon, the FCC and What You Need to Know about Net Neutrality" by Leticia Miranda in The Nation from 6 December 2013.

    For information on Verizon winning its court battle, read "Court Strikes Down Net Neutrality Order" by Leticia Miranda in The Nation from 14 January 2014.

Sources:
Lessig, Lawrence. "What Things Regulate." Code and other Laws of Cyberspace. New York: Basic  
     Books, 1999. 85-99. Print.

Miranda, Leticia. "Court Strikes Down Net Neutrality Order." The Nation. The Nation Magazine, 14
     January 2014. Web. 2 February 2014.

Miranda, Leticia. "Verizon, the FCC and What You Need to Know about Net Neutrality." The
     Nation. The Nation Magazine, 6 December 2013. Web. 2 February 2014.

Video: The Power of Shared Library Data at the Network Level

In this week’s reading, The first 30 years of the Internet through the lens of an academic library, Beth Sandore Namachchivaya mentions that in 1982, patrons at University of Illinois used bibliographic database system like OCLC or RLIN, both database of MARC catalog records, to locate a book. Moreover, the author points out the development of local integrated catalog from card catalog to online public access catalogs in the library technology environment.

The discussion about online cataloging reminds me of the speech, The Power of Shared Library Data at the Network Level, at ALA Annual in Chicago June 29, 2013.

In the speech, Ted Fons, OCLC Executive Director, Data Services and WorldCat Quality Management, and Richard Wallis, OCLC Technology Evangelist, demonstrated why we must use the latest ideas and technologies to make our shared library data consumable by Web services and rethink the model of shared cataloging.

The widespread of network contributed to the appearance of online cataloging couple years ago. Unfortunately, now few librarians realize that it's not enough to have collections accessible only through an online catalog, but need to weave library data throughout the Web. This speech can initiate professional librarians’ thinking on management of entities on the web.

http://oclc.org/en-US/events/2013/ala2013/collective-insight.html

Ted Fons, Richard Wallis. “The Power of Shared Library Data at the Network Level”. OCLC. 29 June. 2013. Web. 2 Feb. 2014.

Chapter Review: Technologies of Social Regulation: An Examination of Library OPACs and Web Portals

Chapter Review: Technologies of Social Regulation: An Examination of Library OPACs and Web Portals

In their book chapter published in Information Technology in Librarianship, Gloria J. Leckie, Lisa Given, and Grant Campbell examine the effectiveness of library catalogs and Web portals using the lens of regulation theory. They discuss how online library catalogs are currently functioning as well as changes that would make library web portals better. The foundation of the authors' thesis is based around the argument that the current library OPAC is flawed and not user friendly. This, they claim, is largely due to the influence of Fordism, which references standard mode of production and classification based off of the regulated Ford assembly line.  A Fordism philosophy led to the attempted standardization of library catalogs under models like the Library of Congress and, after the advent online catalogs, MARC. Their thesis is maintains that the history of library cataloguing and metadata creation has led to an OPAC which is ineffective for patrons because libraries attempt to regulate and conform their online catalogs. The solution to this problem would be to restructure our catalogs and bibliographic records so they are "more flexible and more embedded in the context of a modern information environment" (251).

This chapter was published in 2009, meaning it was written after the internet and Google already had a strong presence in the average American's life. The book appears to be aimed at mainly at librarians and  information professionals. The title of the book, Information Technology in Librarianship: New Critical Approaches, appeals mainly to librarians. The book was published by Libraries Unlimited, another indicator that a librarian audience was the main focus. The primary author and book editor, Gloria Leckie, is extremely qualified to write on topics relating to libraries; she has co-authored three library information texts, was a LIS professor at Western Ontario University, and, as of a month ago, has been appointed chair of the London Public library system. Grant Campbell, one of her co-authors, is a information and media professor at Western Ontario University; the other, Lisa Given, is a current LIS professor at Charles Stuart University and a former phD student Western Ontario.

The reviews of the book Information Technology in Librarianship, were largely positive. One reviewer in the Canadian Journal of Information and Library Sciences, Rick Kopak, writes "The essays in this collection make a substantial contribution to an area of the library and information science literature that has been woefully underserved"(101). The reviews praised that the book discusses six types of technological critique that are relevant to both librarians and all those interested in technology. I did not find that there were reviews directly related to the "Technologies of Social Regulation". However, an article written in 2011 titled "New labour in libraries: the post-Fordist public library" by Siobhan Stevenson was clearly very much in conversation with this particular book chapter. It spoke to the ideas of regulation theory and Fordism that the Leckie article did, meaning that the article was still read and considered relevant two years after its publication. As this article is still so relevant to today's library and information professional, it leads the modern day information professional to wonder: what changes have been made to library web portals to make them more flexibly designed and intuitive? What changes still need to be made?

Bibliography

Gloria J. Leckie et al., "Technologies of social regulation: An examination of library OPACs and web portals," in Gloria J. Leckie et al. eds, Information Technology in Librarianship: New Critical Approaches (Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008), pp. 221-259.

Kopak, Rick. "Information Technology In Librarianship." Canadian Journal Of Information & Library Sciences 35.1 (2011): 99-101.Professional Development Collection. Web. 2 Feb. 2014.

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"New Library Board Chair, Gloria Leckie | London Public Library." New Library Board Chair, Gloria Leckie | London Public Library. London Public Library, 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 02 Feb. 2014.

Siobhan Stevenson. "New labour in libraries: the post-Fordist public library", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 67 Iss: 5 (2011): pp.773 - 790. Web. 2 Feb 2014

Wisher, Doris. "Review of 'Information Technology in Librarianship: New Critical Approaches'" Journal of Web Librarianship 4.1 (2010): 108-109. Web. 2 Feb. 2014

http://www.fims.uwo.ca/peopleDirectory/faculty/faculty_all/faculty_all_profile.htm?PeopleId=117578 (accessed February 2, 2014)

http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/educat/sis/staff/profiles/professor/lisa-given (accessed February 2, 2014)

History of the Internet: Animated Video!

While I was searching around online for some more information about pre-internet technology, I stumbled upon this awesome youtube video. It's a short animated documentary that sums up what we learned in the Campbell-Kelley article, "The Internet." The animation is slick and minimalistic, and it goes into how the internet was influenced by the atomic-bomb hysteria generated by the Cold War. Fear of atomic missiles destroying centralized communication systems prompted technology developers to create DE-centralized systems that would keep working even if one node were destroyed in the unlikely event of an atomic bomb. It's an example of how war, however violent and crazy, can produce some really useful technology! 

Binns, Jack. "History of the Internet." Youtube. 25 March 2009. Web. February 2014. 

TED Talk - Brewster Kahle: A free digital library

The first 30 years of the internet through the lens of an academic library discussed how the internet has impacted libraries, particularly the academic library, and the changes libraries have had to make to programming, services, and access to information because of the internet. Brewster Kahle: A Free Digital Library discusses similar changes that libraries are making because of technology and the ever increasing access to the internet and therefore information across the world. While his stated goal of  "universal access to all knowledge" is a seemingly impossible task, the internet has made this goal attainable. As he states, we have the ability to "one up the Greeks". Instead of creating a physical library filled with all of the world's knowledge that one must travel thousands of miles to access, we now have the ability to create such a library located within the internet that anyone in any part of the world can access whenever the wish. The role of the academic library has been shaped and changed as the internet has grown, but now not only can the physical library house access to the internet, the internet can also be home to the digital library.

Brewster Kahle: A Free Digital Library. Perf. Brewster Kahle. TED. TED Conferences, LLC, Sept. 2008. Web. 1 Feb. 2014.<http://www.ted.com/talks/brewster_kahle_builds_a_free_digital_library.html>.

Speaking of Infrastructure...

We're About to Lose Net Neutrality... (by Marvin Ammori)

Net neutrality is a part of internet infrastructure that a lot of people aren't (very) aware of - it's the principle that disallows internet service providers from charging users for access, services, websites, etc. differentially. It's important to understand what the existence of the net neutrality principle means, because losing net neutrality could have an enormous impact on the internet as we know it. The wired.com article linked above provides a broad overview of what the loss of net neutrality might mean for internet users, but the main point is this: in the near future ISPs may offically have the power to block or slow down website or other service access via their internet service for any reason - or no reason at all. Harkening back to Star and Bowker's "How to Infrastructure," we may soon be looking at another case of "invisible" infrastructure invisibly limiting the accessibility of certain sites or services to certain people.